The Chronicle of Higher Education got a little too close to the truth for some people when it headlined a story “When Does Unwanted Sex Become Rape?”
The new headline is “Colleges Wrestle With How to Define Rape.”
In an editor’s note at the bottom of the story, the Chronicle notes the impetus for the headline change:
We recognize that the original headline, “When Does Unwanted Sex Become Rape?,” was offensive to many people. The revised headline seeks to be clear about the focus of the story.
That’s debatable. The story is a good look at the ambiguity involved when one party in a sexual encounter doesn’t exactly want it but doesn’t clearly convey that apprehension, and how sex partners use the “dance of ambiguity” to avoid having to explicitly agree to sex.
The story itself includes several uses of “unwanted” in relation to sexual encounters, including this likely source of the original headline:
What some people, including researchers, have seen as unwanted sex, others may consider rape.
Here are some others:
Researchers say that in consensual or even unwanted encounters, both partners are often unclear about their preferences. …
Carol Tavris, a social psychologist and a fellow of the American Psychological Association, says it’s natural for a person who ends up feeling a sexual interaction was unwanted to try to find fault. And campuses are encouraging students to do that, she says, rather than to take responsibility for themselves.
Clearly the focus of this article is about unwanted sex and why it’s so common – because students often shy away from direct statements of what they do and don’t want. It’s how both parties save face if something goes wrong.
A headline about defining rape may (briefly) save the reader the discomfort of hearing that much of what is thought of as rape is more accurately “unwanted sex.” You can’t call someone a “survivor” whose entire night of texts show you her determination to get laid.
But is that what responsible journalism does – save readers from having their ideas challenged?
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